• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • ABOUT US
  • MEDIA
  • PRIVACY
  • TERMS
  • DMCA
  • CONTACT US
  • AUTHORS
do you remember

DoYouRemember?

The Home of Nostalgia

  • Celebrity News
    • Family
    • Obituaries
    • Life Behind the Fame
    • ICONS
    • Celebrity Feuds
  • Entertainment
    • Cast
    • Showbiz Rewind
    • Music
    • Beauty & fashion
  • STORIES
  • Celebrity Buzz!?
  • Sitcoms
    • Bewitched
    • Little Rascals
    • The Partridge Family
    • I Dream of Jeannie
    • All in the Family
    • MASH
    • Happy Days
    • Cheers
  • Celebrity Collections
  • SHOP DYR
    • DYR Book

Stories

15 Amazing Inventions Created Totally By Accident

by K. Gitter

Published October 18, 2017

15 Amazing Inventions Created Totally By Accident

It is hard to imagine how certain products were invented. How did someone think of the slinky, and silly putty, and potato chips?

It turns out many of society’s most well-known inventions were simply mistakes made by scientists on alternative quests.

Related:

  1. 5 Amazing Inventions That Were Discovered By Pure Accident
  2. 25 Weird And Amazing Inventions That Solve Annoying Everyday Problems

1. The slinky

Inventor: Richard Jones, a naval engineer 

What he was trying to make: A meter designed to monitor power on naval battleships

How it was created: Jones was working with tension springs when one of them fell to the ground. The spring kept bouncing from place to place after it hit the ground, and the slinky was born.

2. Penicillin

Inventor: Sir Alexander Fleming, a scientist

What he was trying to make: Ironically, Fleming was searching for a “wonder drug” that could cure diseases. However, it wasn’t until Fleming threw away his experiments that he found what he was looking for.

How it was created: Fleming noticed that a contaminated Petri dish he had discarded contained a mold that was dissolving all the bacteria around it. When he grew the mold by itself, he learned that it contained a powerful antibiotic, penicillin.

3. Chocolate-chip cookies

foodplatter.info

Inventor: Ruth Wakefield, Owner of the Toll House Inn

What she was trying to make: Regular chocolate cookies

How it was created: While mixing a batch of cookies, Wakefield discovered she was out of baker’s chocolate. As a substitute, she broke sweetened chocolate into small pieces and added them to the cookie dough. She expected the chocolate to melt, making chocolate cookies, but the little bits stuck.

4. Potato chips

6sqft

Inventor: George Crum, a chef at the Carey Moon Lake House in Saratoga Springs

What they were trying to make: A plate of fried potato

How it was created: One day a customer sent back his plate of potatoes many times and kept asking for them to be more fried and thinner. Crum lost his temper, sliced the potatoes insanely thin and fried them until they were hard as a rock. To the chef’s surprise, the customer loved them and wanted more!

5. The Pacemaker

Pinterest

Inventor: John Hopps, an electrical engineer 

What he was trying to make: Hopps was conducting research on hypothermia and was trying to use radio frequency heating to restore body temperature. 

How it was created: During his experiment, he realized if a heart stopped beating due to cooling, it could be started again by artificial stimulation. This realization led to the pacemaker.

Page Page 1 of 3
Previous article: Watch: Willie Nelson And His Sons Detail Their Unbreakable Family Bond
Next Post: Sleepy? An Afternoon Nap Is Good For Your Health

Primary Sidebar

© 2025 DoYouRemember? Inc.

  • about us
  • media
  • privacy
  • terms
  • DMCA
  • CONTACT US
  • AUTHORS